Attention all Knifemakers!.....Product dealers/retailers and/or knife makers/sharpeners/hobbyists (etc) are not permitted to insert business related text/videos/images (company/company name/product references) and/or links into your signature line, your homepage url (within the homepage profile box), within any posts, within your avatar, nor anywhere else on this site. Market research (such as asking questions regarding or referring to products/services that you make/offer for sale or posting pictures of finished projects) is prohibited. These features are reserved for supporting vendors and hobbyists.....Also, there is no need to announce to the community that you are a knifemaker unless you're trying to sell something so please refrain from sharing.
Thanks for your co-operation!

Help Support Kitchen Knife Forums by donating using the link above or becoming a Supporting Member.

Made a fairly smooth transition into western handled knives. Still fine-tuning the details, but can say that I am fairly comfortable with the outcome.

At this time I am offering primarily S grind geometry, but also dabbled into an asymmetric grind, though I need more feedback on the performance before making it available to the public.

There are a few new types of knives that I intend to bring to the market soon: scimitar, 8" breaking knife, Miroshi deba and others.

On fulfillment of the custom work, need improvement. Find it a bit difficult to manage time efficiently combining new/experimental work and old custom work. I made a priority to get the knives out that had a deposit or were paid in full, and until these are out, all custom work is on hold. I will, however, fulfill the custom orders placed through the web site or email, but it will take some time. The bright side - I am willing to accommodate people and will offer some incentives to make up for a long wait, besides being locked into the old price. Also, I will be offering work that wasn't available at the time they placement an order and it will be an option. The custom order list is closed for the next 1-2 years.

In my professional development, the next step would be to get into forging and damascus making. I intend to bring some integrals down the road and to make my own mokume and damascus. This is a mid-term plan, but I have to start making some moves toward that end in the next 3-6 months.

Accessories production is on hold because of a lack of time and I haven't been successful finding help.

Thanks,

Marko

"All beauty that has no foundation in use, soon grows distasteful and needs continuous replacement with something new." The Shakers' saying.

Nearly two years passed since I posted an update, so one is long overdue.

These past two yeas, I have been thinking about knives, making knives, trying new grinds, profiles, methods, learning new things, often by trial and error. I used to have a quote by Niels Bohr in my signature, "An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made, in a narrow field" and I guess, the description is quite accurate, though I am by no means an expert. Any new approach, typically results in a failure in the beginning, before things start improving.

The learning process never ends, so more trial and error ahead of me, but I think I am now a more confident knife maker that I was. I have tried numerous geometries, and came to understand nuances of each. Learning new geometries also made me think of new approaches of producing them, using tools I have.

I have done some minor tweaks to my heat treatment, and have been thinking of new ideas for heat treatment, in terms of equipment and a process. Heat treatment has never ceased to fascinate me.

So, my next step is forging. My workshop is in a basement and my landlord doesn't allow open fire, so for the next couple of years, I plan on visiting places around where I can forge, but at first, I will spend some time learning how to forge with a reputable forger. My goal is to start with simple forging - integrals, san mai and gradually move to damascus and forging other types of blades and swords.

I plan to continue producing ready-made knives alongside customs. There is a chance that some of my ready-made knives will be offered through a third party/s. Some knives will also be offered through my web site, but these will be mostly knives I like to make. I plan to open my custom order list once my retooling is complete, and I start forging.

I have been working on retooling my shop for a while now. I do all the processes in-house, and I am a one-man shop, so time management and efficiency is the only way to stay competitive. I am adding several new pieces of equipment and grinders to the shop to improve efficiency, so I don't have to waste time on changing tooling. Also, I am finally adding a dust extraction to the shop, as the dust has always been an issue, so I can work without a respirator.

I also plan to continue woodworking - sayas, strops, mag strip and cutting boards. Woodworking adds a different level of satisfaction for me.

I also plan on giving leather working another shot. My butcher knives could use sheaths and I think leather sheaths are a better match for curved blade profiles. Currently I am researching and educating myself on leather patterning and shaping.

Some of you have seen my grinder project. I think we have a great product, but there are hurdles to overcome - cost (mainly shipping to the US) and production. These are essentially hand-build grinders, and like custom knives, building one takes a long time, often longer than originally thought. We are trying to make changes to address these issues, and I think we are on a right track, but there is still much to do.

I am finally starting acting on knife ideas that I have been thinking about for years - butcher knives, neck knives, hunting knives and a folding knife in a near future.

I also partnered with a couple of friends to bring a great wood selection for my customer. We source woods from different parts of the world and make it available for sale to the public. I hope this will give my customer an option to find what they are looking for. Besides wood, there will be other exotic materials available such as mammoth tooth and ivory. I reiterate that I will not offer elephant or walrus ivory, nor will work one if a customer supplies, per-ban or not. I draw a line on this, but I don't mind working mammoth ivory or mammoth tooth. All of the wood and ivory for sale will be stabilized by K&G. I am shipping about 200 blocks for stabilizing next week and many more will follow. Koa, redwood, thuya, bog oak, and many more...

So these are some things I have been doing these two years among ups and downs in my life.

Thanks for reading.

"All beauty that has no foundation in use, soon grows distasteful and needs continuous replacement with something new." The Shakers' saying.

Marko, thanks for taking the time to write this update. It's good to know where you hope to head with this profession, as it shows you intend to keep building on the foundation that earned your knives a great reputation as very good cutters with well thought-out grinds.

Life has been good, stressful at times, but overall, no complains. I have been learning a lot and doing new things ))

The most important thing that happened lately, is that I took first steps into forging. Right now I am building and procuring forging equipment, and hope to be up and running within a couple of months. The game plan to make san mai with steels I am found of (and some new ones) as well as basic damascus. I am currently working with 3 new steels and I think I will be adding them to my stock steels, but in san mai construction.

I still have several knives to finish, but I am considering opening a custom order list after these are done.

I am in talks with a couple of knife dealers to supply them with my knives. Once that is finalized, I will make an announcement. These will be supplied in small quantities, so I also have time to work on custom orders.

Our grinders project is alive and well and it's starting to bear fruits. I am using ST-72U grinder and jt's an amazing machine. Functionality and power of this grinder will blow your mind away. There are two grinders that are to be delivered to forum members within the next few weeks,and I hope folks will chime in. We are currently working on a 20" contact wheel grinder. Most of the grinders on the market come with 8-10" wheels. You get the picture)) We are considering starting making them in the US as of fall 2017.

I have built some really cool equipment for controlled cooling of the blades after the quench. It reduces stresses in the steel and minimizes warping when rapidly cooled in liquid nitrogen.

Also, right now I am working on (actually wrapping up the work) on a new method of heat treatment that will result in a faster soak time, more accurate temperature and overall more efficiency than heat treating in a convection furnace. Combined with controlled cooling this will even further improve already excellent heat treatment.

I am still doing some woodworking, though on a much smaller scale - boards, mag strips, knife holders. Thinking of making custom boxes for my higher-end knives. I have always enjoyed it, and plan on doing it.

That's all I have to announce at the moment.

Thanks,

Marko

"All beauty that has no foundation in use, soon grows distasteful and needs continuous replacement with something new." The Shakers' saying.